"The Hen of the Baskervilles," of course, involves chickens. It also involves Andrews' amateur sleuth, Meg Lansdown, in more comical, crime-fighting craziness.

Meg, as fans will recall, is a blacksmith living in an old farmhouse outside beautiful (and fictional) Caerphilly, Va., with husband Michael, who teaches drama at the local college, and their twin boys, who have just hit the terrible twos.

At the moment, however, Meg has taken on a side job as assistant director (and de facto boss) of the "Un-Fair," a regional agricultural expo that Caerphilly County officials are trying to launch in place of the state fair. (Note for non-Virginians: The non-profit that ran the Virginia State Fair went bankrupt in 2012, preventing the event from opening that year. The state fair has since been taken over by the Virginia Farm Bureau.)

What can go wrong running a simple little fair? Plenty. First, someone snuck in the poultry barn and made off with a pair of prize Russian Orloff chickens. This leaves the poultry exhibitors, er, squawking.

Then, an anonymous vandal takes a sledgehammer to one of the monster-sized pumpkins on display. An elaborate quilt has been lifted from the crafts show and its owner is suffering from the fantods.

Most of the locals blame this carnival of crime on Genette Sedgewick, a spoiled heiress who recently bought a local winery and is spreading her money around. Apparently, if Genette can't have her way, she can turn very vicious. She also stole the affections of Brett Riordan, the no-account husband of Meg's dear friend, Molly.

Then Brett turns up, shot dead, in the woods just outside the midway. Suspicion falls on poor Molly, especially after the murder weapon turns up in her tent. Meg will have to find out who really did it, or else her friend seems bound for prison.

If you're looking for a gritty police procedural, forget it. "The Hen of the Baskervilles" is a beach-read romp, and Meg, the ultimate straight woman, copes with a huge cast of eccentric locals, small-minded lawmen and increasingly preposterous situations.

The setting allows Andrews to hold forth on such topics as the benefits of heritage seeds and heritage livestock and poultry breeds. (A description of how most factory-raised turkeys require artificial insemination these days might be a bit much for more sensitive souls.)

She also has great fun with ornamental poultry fanciers, some of whom are as bizarre-looking and bizarre-acting as their chickens.

If you're going to miss the State Fair again this year, "The Hen of the Baskervilles" might be the next-best thing.

<p>Donna Andrews, the Reston, Va., mystery writer whose book titles usually involve a bird-brained pun – "Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos," "Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon," "We'll Always Have Parrots," "Some Like It Hawk" and "The Penguin Who Knew Too Much" – continues her streak with her 15th novel.</p><p>"The Hen of the Baskervilles," of course, involves chickens. It also involves Andrews' amateur sleuth, Meg Lansdown, in more comical, crime-fighting craziness.</p><p>Meg, as fans will recall, is a blacksmith living in an old farmhouse outside beautiful (and fictional) Caerphilly, Va., with husband Michael, who teaches drama at the local college, and their twin boys, who have just hit the terrible twos.</p><p>At the moment, however, Meg has taken on a side job as assistant director (and de facto boss) of the "Un-Fair," a regional agricultural expo that Caerphilly County officials are trying to launch in place of the state fair. (Note for non-Virginians: The non-profit that ran the Virginia State Fair went bankrupt in 2012, preventing the event from opening that year. The state fair has since been taken over by the Virginia Farm Bureau.)</p><p>What can go wrong running a simple little fair? Plenty. First, someone snuck in the poultry barn and made off with a pair of prize Russian Orloff chickens. This leaves the poultry exhibitors, er, squawking.</p><p>Then, an anonymous vandal takes a sledgehammer to one of the monster-sized pumpkins on display. An elaborate quilt has been lifted from the crafts show and its owner is suffering from the fantods.</p><p>Most of the locals blame this carnival of crime on Genette Sedgewick, a spoiled heiress who recently bought a local winery and is spreading her money around. Apparently, if Genette can't have her way, she can turn very vicious. She also stole the affections of Brett Riordan, the no-account husband of Meg's dear friend, Molly.</p><p>Then Brett turns up, shot dead, in the woods just outside the midway. Suspicion falls on poor Molly, especially after the murder weapon turns up in her tent. Meg will have to find out who really did it, or else her friend seems bound for prison.</p><p>If you're looking for a gritty police procedural, forget it. "The Hen of the Baskervilles" is a beach-read romp, and Meg, the ultimate straight woman, copes with a huge cast of eccentric locals, small-minded lawmen and increasingly preposterous situations.</p><p>The setting allows Andrews to hold forth on such topics as the benefits of heritage seeds and heritage livestock and poultry breeds. (A description of how most factory-raised turkeys require artificial insemination these days might be a bit much for more sensitive souls.)</p><p>She also has great fun with ornamental poultry fanciers, some of whom are as bizarre-looking and bizarre-acting as their chickens.</p><p>If you're going to miss the State Fair again this year, "The Hen of the Baskervilles" might be the next-best thing. </p><p><a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic14"><b>Ben Steelman</b></a>: 343-2208</p>